MWBIRDCO
Unlike most products I've worked on in my career, MWBirdCo isn't just a product, it's my own company and not at all related to user experience design. That doesn't mean I haven't tried to bring the principles I use in UX into my own business (during design and while guiding). Created in 2008 to take people on bird watching tours, my company has grown from a small 3-4 tour a year outfit, to guiding 50-100 birders every year for a variety of tours all over the western United States.
Experience with Product: 10 years 8 months
![](img/products/mwbirdco_promo.jpg)
Sleek Responsive Design
Since starting the business in 2008, the website has gone through 4 major redesigns. Keeping up with the times, and trying to build a brand required coming up with unique designs that stood out against the competitors. In the most recent phase, I redesigned the website in 2016 to go along with a rebranding effort. This gave me an opportunity to play with a wide variety of HTML, CSS, and Javascript to provide an enjoyable experience taking advantage of motion and other effects to draw the user into the interface.
![](img/products/mwbirdco_3.jpg)
Focused Pricing
After years of standardized pricing, I started testing out tiered pricing with a focus on prices that provided a good value proposition for the customer while also working in my favor as a business owner. By highlighting the price point I wanted to sell most I found that 93% of my clientele ended up picking the highlighted option even when other options were less expensive or provided a similar experience. While this may just be a correlation, it certainly had a positive effect on business.
![](img/products/mwbirdco_4.jpg)
Logo Design
Over the first 7 years of business, I used 3 different logos. The first was a poor choice of a bird that wasn't found anywhere in America and represented a bad brand decision. This was followed up with a hawk silhouette that at least made sense for where the business was located but wasn't generally exciting. I followed this up with a falcon that was similar to the style of my current brand but had no real tie into my business other than being a bird. Eventually, I ended up with the Flammulated Owl--which made the most sense given that 96% of my clients come for owls!
![](img/products/mwbirdco_1.jpg)
Business Cards
Keeping with the theme of standing out from competitors, when I rebranded I decided to go for business cards that would also stand out. I looked at various ideas and options that ranged from an odd shape/size to cutouts, and a variety of different coatings to provide depth. In the end, I went with a layered card with a thick black center. The cards were as thick as 5 standard business cards so they had weight to them. The dark center contrasted with the yellow and white sides creating a stark appearance.
![](img/products/mwbirdco_2.jpg)
Bookmarks
At the end of a tour, I like to wrap things up with a few marketing materials for clients to take home and even share if it will help grow my business. I have used pens, water bottles, stickers, and several other easily disposable items. While trying to think of something that would be useful for bird watchers I looked to a field guide and realized a bookmark might be the perfect parting gift. Something they can stick in their guide and have every time they open it up--thus the Flammy bookmark was born!
![](img/products/mwbirdco_5.jpg)